


Long May She Reign

by LooseScrewsLefty



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Chat/Adrien is a giant goofball of sweetness and needs to be protected at all costs, F/M, I think I broke the Bug..., Ladybug's finally asking the important questions, Marinette4QueenofEverything2k16, This was SUPPOSED to be a oneshot but you guys are WAY TOO NICE and now it's multi-chap??!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-03
Updated: 2016-04-17
Packaged: 2018-05-24 12:31:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6153844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LooseScrewsLefty/pseuds/LooseScrewsLefty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ladybug has a question for her partner. She wasn’t expecting the answer she got.</p><p>“Why do you keep calling that Marinette girl ‘Princess?’”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I

She wouldn’t have even noticed, if it wasn’t for Chloé Bourgeois.

 

It wasn’t anything Chloé did (for once) but instead due to the fact that her name had come up during their nightly patrol when they started talking about an Akuma attack that had happened earlier that day (which Chloé HAD been responsible for. Again).

 

“I tried to have a talk with the mayor’s daughter after you left earlier about maybe trying to tone it down a little, so hopefully we won’t be getting anymore Akumas on that front for at least a little while.”

 

“As much as I want to believe that, Chloé’s knack for saying or doing things that upset people is practically unprecedented. And with exams just around the corner, students are going to be more stressed than ever.” Ladybug scoffed, trying to keep her irritation with her classmate out of her tone. As much as she tried to remain forgiving and impartial for the sake of being Ladybug if nothing else, Chloé made it really, really hard on her to stay compassionate.

 

“Yeah, I gotta **cat** ch up on my studies tonight myself.” Chat Noir laughed as Ladybug rolled her eyes at the pun. “Being an amazing superhero and having a busy civilian life don't leave me much time for homework. But don't worry, I don’t think we have much to worry about as far as Chloe’s classmates getting stressed. I've got a reliable source that told me Princess has arranged a class study group. She’s even providing snacks and made some games out of the study guides. Pretty clever, huh?”

 

“Uh, yeah. I guess?” Ladybug responded, caught off-guard.

 

…How did Chat Noir know so much about her class study group? She’d only announced it that morning, to the visible relief of her classmates who were struggling to absorb all the information they needed to know for their exams. It also made her a little uncomfortable to have her partner talk like she’d arranged everything single-handedly when nothing was further from the truth. Her father was the one who was providing snacks, and Alya, Max and Sabrina had all agreed to help her make games that covered the subject matters they were being tested on, since they were three of the smartest kids in class and needed less help with their studies then the rest of the class.

 

And besides, Max and Sabrina sometimes struggled to connect with some of their other classmates, so Marinette liked trying to make them feel included and important. Both had been thrilled to be trusted with something that both recognized their talents and made the rest of the class happy at the same time.

 

“It’s good for us, too.” Chat Noir continued, drawing Ladybug’s attention back to her partner as he gave a cat-like stretch. “That girl who runs the Ladyblog is gonna be busy helping Princess with the whole thing, so she won’t have as much time to try and track us down or anything. Which means we probably won't be saving our well-meaning friend from any mortal peril for a while.”

 

Chat Noir’s in depth knowledge of this subject troubled her even more with that off-hand comment, but before she could mull over it any further another little detail caught her attention, one which made her pause in confusion.

_Wait a minute…_

“Hey Chaton?” She said, getting a hum of inquiry from her partner. “Why do you keep call that Marinette girl ‘Princess’ anyways?” receiving a puzzled look from the blond at that, Ladybug clarified further. “Usually when you talk about people, you call them names on what they do or who their parents are or something. Like Chloé’s ‘The mayor’s daughter,’ and Alya is ‘The girl who runs the Ladyblog.’ Well that, or it's a pun like the way you call me ‘My Lady.’ But Marinette’s just the daughter of a baker, so why do you keep calling her ‘Princess?’” Now that she actually thought about it, that was really weird.

 

Marinette knew she wasn’t the prettiest or wealthiest or the most graceful girl in Paris, after all. The oddness of her civilian identity getting such a regal nickname was enough to make her push for more information, even though a part of her knew that that wasn’t a smart move given the secret identities thing.

 

To Ladybug’s confusion, Chat Noir practically glowed at the question, looking so gleeful that it almost borderlined on being inappropriate. Ladybug took a step back on instinct.

 

“Oh? Could it be that My Lady is jealous?” the hero asked, practically dancing at the idea. “Does the idea of me singing the praises of another woman bother my Lady?”

 

It was all Ladybug could do not to die laughing at the question.

 

“Not really, no.” She forced herself to say, trying to keep her mirth off her face. It was hard though, because the irony of Chat Noir thinking that she was jealous of the nickname he’d bestowed to her civilian self was not lost on the spotted heroine. “I’ve never been the kind of girl who’s into tiaras and fairy tale endings, Chaton. I just think it’s strange is all. That kind of nickname seems like it’s better suited for Chloé than a girl like Marinette.”

 

“We have very different ideas of what makes a Princess then, my Lady.” Chat Noir laughed.

 

“Oh? Do tell, kitty cat.” Ladybug pressed with a teasing smirk that made the leather clad boy grin.

 

“Chloé might have more stuff than Marinette, but I’ve never thought that being a Princess is about material possessions.” Chat Noir explained. “It’s about being an amazing person, and Marinette has that in spades.” Whatever answer Ladybug had been expecting, that hadn’t been on the list, and the words caught her way off guard, especially with the admiration and respect in Chat’s tone as he spoke them.

 

“Oh?” she pushed, even more curious after that explanation then she’d been before. Fortunately for her, Chat Noir didn’t need any further prompting.

 

“From what I’ve seen of her, Marinette’s pretty incredible. I mean, she’s smart and dedicated, and she does so much for her friends without ever asking for anything in return. She’s the kind of person that people turn to when they’re upset or scared or lonely and just want a friendly ear. And she’s a really good leader, too. She’s always trying to think of ways to help fix a problem, even if it doesn’t affect her. There aren’t many people that are that selfless and it’s an admirable trait, don’t you think?”

 

She couldn’t think at all now, actually. And CLEARLY, she hadn’t thought this through when she asked Chat Noir to explain his nickname for her. Now it was all she could do to keep her face from matching her suit.

 

“Uhh, I, um…” She stammered out, blushing harder at the bewildered look her partner shot the tongue-tied superheroine. It was a strangely familiar look, now that she saw it, but her mind was to overwhelmed to make any connections (particularly to her handsome crush and the looks he’d give her when she started spazzing around him). “Let’s um… yeah.” And, with THAT eloquent statement, Ladybug turned on her heel and fled from her partner as fast as she could, her face burning as she left Chat Noir blinking dumbly in her dust and wondering what he’d said to upset her so much.

 

If only she could escape his words that easily…


	2. II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You are all terrible people. How dare you be so sweet and amazing and like my stupid little drabble enough for me to turn it into a legitimate fic because I love you all?!! YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED!!!!

Marinette knew that she had a tendency to be a little… _overdramatic_ sometimes.

 

It was something that had been pointed out to her on multiple occasions by family members, friends, and various other acquaintances. And yes, looking back she could see that it was probably a little bit much for her to act like the world would come to an end due to a bad derby hat, but hindsight was 20/20 and Marinette couldn’t help herself when she got caught in a moment. Thankfully Tikki had long since gotten used to the teen’s tendency to overact, so the small sprite merely breathed out a long, weary sigh as the dark haired girl buried herself under pillows and blankets and babbled at the speed of light before seating herself comfortably on her chosen’s mattress to wait out the meltdown with patience befitting of an immortal entity of good luck and compassion.

 

“Marinette,” She began gently, interrupting the girl’s moans of ‘Noooooo, whyyyyy?!’ and ‘I’ll never be able to look Chat Noir in the eyes again. Ever.’ “I don’t understand why this is a bad thing. He only said nice things about you, after all.”

 

“Exactly!” Marinette wailed, poking her head out of her cotton cocoon to look at the Kwami with distress in her eyes. “He was soooo nice! He thinks I’m smart, and kind and selfless! But I’m not some perfect and compassionate leader like he seems to believe, and it just makes me feel guilty because he sees something in me that’s not really there!”

 

Oh. So THAT was it, then.

 

Tikki very nearly buried her head in her hands and groaned at the realization of what, exactly, was going on. As much as she adored her chosen (And she did. Marinette was a sweet and wonderful girl with a big-heart, who could think on her feet and adjusted well to anything that was thrown her way) she couldn’t help but feel a little frustrated at how painfully insecure the girl could be. It troubled her that Marinette put more stock in her flaws and mistakes than her virtues, and thus didn’t see how amazing she really was. And as much as she tried to work with Marinette to help her overcome her self-criticism, it sometimes felt like she was stuck on a hamster wheel when it came to boosting Marinette’s self-esteem.

 

“Do you honestly think that’s true, Marinette?” Tikki demanded, frowning at her chosen.

 

“He’s acting like I single-handedly saved the whole class because of the study group thing, but it wasn’t just me. Alya, and my dad, and Sabrina and Max… They all helped, and it’s not fair to them for others to think I’m something special because of their hard work. Me taking credit for that would make me just as bad as Chloé.”

 

“Marinette, your contribution is just as important as theirs.” Tikki insisted, flying closer to nuzzle the girl affectionately.

 

“But I’m the one getting the credit, and they’re not.” Marinette protested, looking troubled. “It’s just as bad as people acting like Ladybug is the hero and Chat Noir is a sidekick or something when he’s every bit as important as I am. I don’t want people thinking I’m better than I actually am, and ignoring everyone else who worked to help too. I don’t want that, Tikki. I’m not more special than they are. I’m just me.”

 

“Well if you ask me, ‘Just Marinette’ is really amazing.” Tikki informed her charge loftily. “And much more talented than you’re giving her credit for. Marinette, do you really think that your classmates would’ve chosen you as Class Rep if they didn’t think you were suited to be a leader?”

 

“It was me or Chloé.” Marinette reminded the Kwami, rolling her eyes. “They didn’t have much of a choice.”

 

“They had plenty of choices.” Tikki corrected her firmly. “Any one of them could have chosen to stand up to Chloé themselves if it was that important to them, the same way you did. Don’t sell yourself short, Marinette. Chat Noir was right, you ARE doing a great job as a leader, and the fact that you’re so upset at the idea of your classmates not being acknowledged for their contributions just proves that! The ability to think of others like that and want them to share in the glory is one of the things that makes you an excellent leader. And a wonderful hero, to boot. That’s a quality that is far more uncommon than it should be.” That earned a small smile from the pig-haired heroine.

 

“You really think so?”

 

“Do you honestly think that I would lie to you, Marinette? Or that Chat Noir would, for that matter?” Tikki asked smartly, earning a small laugh from Marinette that drew a smile from the Kwami.

 

“No, you wouldn’t. Neither of you would.” Marinette said confidently, finally unfurrowing herself from the blankets to bring Tikki in close for an affectionate embrace. “I still don’t feel like I’m fit to be considered a great leader, though. And I’m DEFINITELY not Chat Noir’s idea of a Princess.” She flushed again as her partner’s praise rang though her mind once more, making her feel painfully inadequate.

 

It had always been a little uncomfortable for her to be so admired as Ladybug when she knew that the girl under the mask was so ordinary and unworthy, but she had always pushed past that because Paris needed Ladybug much more than Marinette needed to stay in her little bubble and she had been chosen to fill that role, like it or not. She had learned to accept that, and even enjoy being Ladybug and how she could make such a difference in people’s lives, but that was Ladybug. Marinette was still just a clumsy, awkward girl who babbled at her crush and spazzed out over practically anything. How on Earth was a girl like THAT worthy of the respect and admiration her partner had so blatantly displayed for her?

 

“Give it time, Marinette.” Tikki advised her wisely, a knowing smile tugging at her lips. “It might surprise you to learn what you’re capable of, and who you’re capable of being.” Marinette gave a small, pensive hum at that, but didn’t protest any further. The Kwami’s smile widened a little as she examined her charge’s profile as the girl finally dug herself out of her nest completely and made her way over to her desk to do her homework.

 

Marinette might not see it herself, but Tikki was centuries old and had met many humans of all walks of life. She knew leaders better than most. Had met people born to be leaders, and people who grew into the roles like flowers blooming in the warmth of the sun. And for all her uncertainty, there was a truth in Chat Noir’s words that Marinette wouldn’t be able to escape.

 

She had a light, a _warmth_ , that drew others to her. She made them feel safe, wanted, and included. She was someone people felt they could trust in times of hardship, and who appreciated their gifts and talents and found ways they could use them to help others and themselves. Marinette might not believe it yet herself, but she was already every bit the Princess Chat Noir thought she was.

 

And once she learned to accept that part of herself and see her own strengths the same way she viewed everyone else’s, she would grow and flourish into an amazing Queen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeeeah, there's a distinct lack of pun spouting kitty cat boys in this chapter, isn't there? We'll see if we can fix that in the next update, shall we? ^^


End file.
